November 2007 - Happy Birthday Dear Blog

A year ago this month I decided to start keeping this record of mine and Lynda's travels and the wonderful people we've been with, or met on them. In some respects this year (as they always seem to when you get older) has passed in the blink of an eye but looking back over the posts on this blog I can't believe we've managed to do all that we have in just twelve months. Sorry Ron, I wish I'd started it before the New York trip !!!

It all started with the Lobs trip to St Cezaire last November and so much has happened since that trip to Bryan & Sandra's lovely home on the Cote D'Azure; places we've been to, what has been going on in all our lives, family additions, milestone birthdays and how much weight we've all put on. I hope you've all enjoyed even a little bit seeing yourselves immortalised in this obscure travelogue.

For me, the blog has been a great way of cementing in my memory the details of every trip we've made since it started. It's also been the perfect place for looking back and laughing when I start to take things a bit too seriously. But best of all it's been a constant reminder of how lucky Lynda and I are; firstly to have had the opportunity to do the things we've done in such wonderful places, but more importantly to have you all to do them with.

So, there it is. Thank you so much every one of you. Lynda and I raise a glass to you all and keep our fingers crossed for many more such times in the future.

14th Nov 2007 - Madrid Madness

So we've just wrapped up this parcel of magazines to send out to Ana in Madrid. Lynda weighed it and we were looking on Royal Mail's website to see how much it would cost to send it. £26.50. Sounds a lot but it was to be fair a pretty hefty package. 'I bet I could get a bloody flight out there for the day for not much more' says I. A few deft clicks later and we'd left Royal Mail and were now checking out Easyjet. Early flight out, late flight back the same day, £32.00. So for £5.50 more I could deliver the parcel personally to Frank & Ana and even squeeze in a couple of hours with the kids. 'Excellent, do it' was Frank's assessment when I rang him up the next morning, so I did.

'Shame Lynda's not coming' said Frank & Ana a couple of days later. 'It is' I agreed 'but if she booked up as well then it would certainly skew the original business case'. 'Shame I shan't be seeing everyone' said Lynda a couple of days after that. So, what the heck, we booked her on the same trip. Never let it be said that we knowingly do anything sensible. But if life was about being sensible, well, we'd all shop at Lidl's.

That’s why we found oursleves in the very familiar circumstances of being in the departure lounge at Luton Airport, very early in the morning, waiting to catch a flight to Madrid. Lynda eyeing up the handbags and me dribbling over whatever supercar was being raffled that day. Plenty of people moan about no-frills airlines; they’re basic, poor customer service, etc. But we love them because they’ve made the world so accessible, and if for the sake of flying to Krankenschunakker for three quid you can’t go two hours without a complimentary bag of nuts or a Coq au Vin from a 4” x 2” foil container, then you have to be pretty desperate. Ok, there’s the green debate. There we are then, we’ve just had it. Job done

It was damp and bloody freezing when we left Luton but the Madrid morning, although cool was bright an sunny. No hold luggage meant whipping straight through Passport Control to the waiting Ana and Frank and minutes later we were speeding away from Barajas Airport. Frank had planned a day in Alcala de Henares, an attractive medieaval town half an hour out of Madrid, famous for being the home of Spain's oldest university and more so for being the birthplace of Cervantes - he of Don Quixote fame.

We spent the morning catching up and laughing as we wandered around the lovely old palaces and squares in the sun, stopping for a coffee and churros. Come lunchtime, Frank unveilled the day's culinary highlight. He had booked a table in the town's Parador. http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/parador/alarcon.htm should tell you all you need to know about Paradors, and this one in particular. An inspired choice on Frank's part as it turned out because the meal and service were absolutely first class. Better than that, at 29 euros per head for the three course set lunch it was incredible value too. Even better value was that Frank & Ana very kindly picked up the tab as an early birthday present. Thanks chaps - marvellous!

We had lingered over lunch (well it is Spain) and then shot back to the car to go to collect the kids from school. We found a place to stop in the school parking scrum that's the same the world over, then Lynda and I went off to hide while Ana fetched Pablo, Sofi Carla & Andi. The kids didn't know we were coming and so we planned to surprise them when they got back to the car. Our cover was almost blown when they came out of a different gate than planned but we still managed to creep up on them at the car and spring the surprise. Their faces were a picture and after some huge cuddles we piled into the car and went home. The shame is that they thought we were joking when we told them that we were only there for the day.

There we exchanged groceries - our traditional English for their traditional Spanish - handed over the magazines and then enjoyed a couple of hours going wild with the kids. Bass playing, twixie floor mops, quizzes, it's amazing what you can fit into such a short space of time.

Eventually though time did run out for us and it was with huge regret that we took our leave of Ana, Pablo, Carla & Andi to head back to the airport with Sofi & Frank.

A quick wander around the shops then we were boarded and off. The day relied heavily on Easyjet playing their part with regard to the flight times and they were spot on. We were back home and tucked up in bed by midnight, still almost incredulous at what we'd done that day. We'd had a fantastic time and anyone that thinks it's too long, or means getting up too early, or they'd be too knackered the next day, well, just think again.

Thanks to Frank, Ana and the kids. We love and miss you all but now we realise you're a good deal closer than we thought.

2nd-4th November 2007 - It's Football-tastic Up North!!!

Blackburn. Not a destination that most people would first think of when planning a weekend trip away. But did you know that in Blackburn you can step back in time to an earlier age and discover the treasures of a bygone era? The history of Blackburn travels back many centuries: Bronze Age people lived here and the Romans certainly took a passing interest. A fine Roman museum now exists at the village of Ribchester to the East of Blackburn in the Ribble Valley.


When travelling through Blackburn, an ancient Roman, Marcus Hughesius, dropped his leather water pouch and bending over to retrieve it accidentally kicked it. A fellow Roman kicked it back to him. Marcus bought it under control, flicked it up in the air and volleyed it back again. Loads more Romans joined in and all had a splendid time kicking the pouch around an open field for around 90 minutes. "I shall call this game footius and the park we played it on Ewoodium". To this day the game has continued in Blackburn, but not just as the preserve of Roman nobility with their motto ' Ponis mei caput filius’, it's even been known for a Savage to play it there too.

Lynda and me, together with Lynda's splendid brother Neil, his equally lovely wife Maz, made the what should have been 3 hour'ish trip to Blackburn - actual time 5 hours thanks to the roadworks all the way up - for a weekend of football, fun, food and one or two drinks. Lynda had made sure we were properly fuelled for the trip, having picked up four massive pasties on her way home that day, which were soon demolished.

Our first appointment was at 7 o'clock when John our host was picking up Neil, or Lightning as most people know him as, and me from the hotel to whisk us off to a Sportsman's Dinner at Ewood Park, the home of Blackburn Rovers. John is yet another splendid fellow whose only fault is that he supports Blackburn first and Liverpool second. Thanks to the slow trip up we only made it to the hotel with five minutes to spare before we were being collected. A record-breaking shave and change later the boys set off for Ewood leaving Maz & Lynda not entirely sure what their evening would bring.

Once at Ewood we met the rest of our table guests, including Norman, Tony and Davey - all great company and able to drink to Olympic standards. It wasn't long before we were putting those skills to the test as we eagerly laid into the very acceptable beers and wines on offer. The excellent meal over and our guest speaker got to his feet. Footballing legend John Aldridge. 'Aldo' has had a great career to draw on for his material; Newport, Oxford, Liverpool, Real Sociedad, Tranmere and the Republic of Ireland. A brilliantly funny and thoroughly engaging speaker, John was the perfect after-dinner speaker. Lynda, Maz, Lightning and I share a joke that everywhere he goes Lightning knows someone. Well clearly we knew our table guests but what I hadn't realised is that he also knew the speaker! He and Maz had holidayed with 'Aldo' some years back so off he skipped up to the top table for a spot of reminiscing with the great man.

By the time he got back to us the comedian, Sean was just starting his turn. This guy is brilliant. A scouser whose non-stop delivery had us in stitches, he’s one of those brilliant comedians that don’t tell jokes but just remark on what they’ve seen and what’s happenning in the room. By now we were all, to use a medical term, bollocksed. The drink had caught us up and Neil was trying on the jackets of just about everyone else on the table, including Davey’s who is half Neil’s size! Neil looked wonderful of course and no-one except him dared stand up and go for a pee for fear of having it mercilessly ripped out of him by Sean, which is exactly what happenned. At almost six and half feet tall, wearing a jacket six sizes too small for him, his shirt covered in red wine and his tie tied like a bow tie, he wasn't going to be easy to miss. We don’t remember much about getting back to the hotel, but we were grateful that we managed it in one piece and in the correct bedrooms. An excellent night.

The next morning, after the mother of cooked breakfasts and catching up on what the girls had been up to last night – a pretty dodgy meal in the hotel, a couple of drinks and a bit of TV - we headed for Preston to do a bit of shopping. Neil and I ‘shopped’ for about an hour then dived into the Corn Exchange to watch the Arsenal v Man Utd game on a giant screen. After the previous night though we were slightly fragile and consequently were the only blokes in the place nursing cokes during the game. A good game and a predictable draw, although Arsenal left it till the dying moments to bring it back to 2-2.

We met up with the girls who were now toting a reasonable number of carrier bags, grabbed a bag of chips and shot off back to the hotel. Once again John and his wife Beverley kindly collected us (all four of us this time) from the hotel and took us back to Ewood, this time to watch Blackburn play host to Liverpool in the Premiership. Again there were a number of us going to game but we were in separate parts of ground. We four sat with Sue & Norman – parents of Balckburn mid-fielder David Dunn and thoroughly enjoyed what was a pretty thrilling 0-0 draw.

After match we all met up in an excellent Indian restaurant close to our hotel. By now Neil and I had our beer appetites back and we all enjoyed an excellent evening’s food, drink and company.

If Saturday’s breakfast was the mother, Sunday’s was the mother, father and grand-parents. We needed it to be as we were heading straight off for home afterwards. The journey back was a breeze – apart from Lightning’s car breaking down on the M6. Thankfully it turned out to be something very minor and so we made it back home in three hours. Safe, full, tired but very pleased with the whole weekend.

Thanks to everyone that made the weekend as good as it was. To our hosts for their hospitality and especially to Neil & Maz for their excellent company.

21st-24th September. Trouble in the Tyrol

Despite being a smaller band than set out to last year's Herbsfest, those making the pilgrimage to Maria Alm on this trip were definitely no less enthusiastic !!

Over a good lunch with Bryan & Sandra sometime back in April we decided that we'd definitely go back to this Tyrolean beauty spot. So there and then we spun up the Ryanair website and booked our seats. Bryan once again took excellent control of accommodation and transport details, and within days of us deciding to go we had the flights, hotel and hire car all sorted out.

Phil was the only Maria Alm veteran who was definitely up for a return and so he booked the same flights for himself a couple of weeks later. We were five strong, eight down on last year but no less confident of a great time. I say Phil booked the same flights. What he actually managed to do was book himself onto the 6.30 am flight out of Stansted, not the 6.30 pm flight that the rest of us were on. As it turned out it worked well for him as he hired a car, and in the twelve hours between him arriving at Salzburg Airport and us turning up he managed to drive around most of Bavaria and Salzburgerland. There are lot worse ways to spend a day.

Maria Alm is about 45 minutes drive south of Salzburg and our base there was once again Pension Niederreiter in the centre of the village - www.sbg.at/pension-niederreiter/niederreiter_mariaalm_en.html.

A gem of a place run by an incredibly nice young husband and wife team, the Niederreiter is spotlessly clean, in a great location and incredibly cheap. We 'checked in' at 11.15, tossed a coin to determine that Bryan & Sandra got the best room - they're all great, this one's just a bit bigger and has a sofa - ditched our bags and decided that despite the hour we'd take a short stroll to unwind. Phil was understandably knackered and hit the pit hard, saving his strength for the next day's festivities. The four of us walked down the main street getting only as far as a hotel bar thirty yards away, from which we emerged at about 2 am a good deal unsteadier than when we walked in !!! A tip: Sturm (unfermented new wine) makes your legs very wobbly Lynda.

Lynda's first of many


Right: Ditto

"Hello Mum, Hello Dad" Bryan and his Nokia Marrowphone


Left & right: a photo opportunity around every corner in Maria Alm

Saturday arrived in a blaze of sunshine, clear blue sky and with a real sense of anticipation in the village for the coming celebrations. It's the author's experience that Tyroleans need very little excuse to throw a party, especially if the reason for it involves agriculture. This weekend is all about the cows coming down from the higher pastures where they've grazed for the summer months. What a shame then that cows don't drink huge quantites of chilled lager and eat very big portions of meat, sauerkraut and sausages, as they appear to be the only ones not getting stuck in.

Whip crack away and loads of oompah - they do it so well !

After breakfast we sauntered down to the village centre, passing tables and benches laid out for the expected visitors, food and craft stalls, bars and oompah bands. Although events are centred in the town square, the same thing was repeated all over the beautifully decorated and pristine village. Around mid-morning we made a bee-line for an empty table and benches and made them ours for the day. Shortly afterwards we were joined by Bryan's brother Clive, his mum Gladys and her best friend Liz, all of whom had been in the village for a few days already. Clive is a complete Austrophile and with his wife Rose (who sadly couldn't make the trip for family reasons) is lucky enough to have owned an apartment in the village for a few years. Five had now become eight and very quickly became ten when Bryan's other brother Trevor and his wife Lorraine surprised us by turning up for the weekend. They also have an apartment there, making the non-Maria Alm property owners almost in the minority !

"I'm telling you I left my beer right there!"

The day's entertainment unfolded and included music from several bands, dancing, displays of horsemanship and whip cracking, parades of various animals and of course loads and loads of marvellous food washed down with one or two beers and the odd schnapps. All of which was executed with great humour and enthusiasm. The day became progressively warmer, we all got more relaxed and giggly and the beer remained ice cold. By around five, glowing with the day's fun and alcohol we sloped off to our various hotels and apartments. We five dragged out sun loungers and collapsed in the hotel garden for an hour or so's improptu and very light-hearted German lesson.

Dinner is always an excellent experience in Austria, especially if you're not vegetarian, and we were not disappointed that evening. Next to the food our main concern was how we could fix Phil up with the attractive and extremely efficient blonde waitress who was single-handedly running the whole place, including the bar. She'd served us in the same restaurant the previous year and we'd had the same discussions then, Phil opting on that occasion that beer would be far better company. Despite our efforts, tonight ended the same way. Another tip: identifying Austrian girls as 'that blonde' is futile. They all are.

The next day we breakfasted and piled into the car for the short trip to the lakeside town of Zell am See, a few miles west of Maria Alm. Staring down onto the town and lake for no doubt several millenia, Schmittenhohe is a fairly hefty mountain. At Clive's suggestion we took the cable car to its top and marvelled at the views, made all the more beautiful for being bathed in bright sunshine. We were lucky ebough to be there at the same time as some paragliders leaping from the top with their yahooing passengers dangling in front of them. Definitely put us down for that on our next trip.

Just before getting into our paragliding gear

Bryan & Sandra lead off



Click the play button twice, slowly - This really looked and sounded like a whole lot of fun

That afternoon Clive was taking Gladys and Liz to part two of the village celebrations, this time held at Jufen, a guesthouse/bar/restaurant in the hills over Maria Alm. A drive up a very steep winding road and a successful hunt for a parking space later we turned up and joined them, as too did Trevor and Lorraine. The pastoral setting, incredible scenery and weather, local band and makeshift but more than adequate wooden staging made for an even more enjoyable experience than the previous day in the town. We wasted no time in once again finding a free table and tucking into the excellent food and yes, a few beers. We were also surprisingly captivated by a game involving a hammer, a tree stump and a bag of 4" nails - yes, all that with loads of beer !!! A short uphill stroll not only gave us a glimpse of Maria Alm from above, but also into Bryan's latent 'Sound of Music' fantasy when he treated us to a Maria-moment, running round the hillside, singing something about lonely goat-herds. This was a highlight in itself. Little did we know though of the two highlights still to come...........

Bryan Von Trapp

We're the kings of the castle......

Bryan sensibly opting for beer over that nail game

Highlight number one - Andy Arnold. Never heard of him? Neither had we but we won't ever forget him. A local boy, Andy is a Europopper at his Europoppiest. We felt sorry for the poor lad belting out his sub-Bee Gee disco tunes to a polite but pretty disinterested audience. Fair play though, the boy's a trouper and sang enthusiastically over the pre-recorded backing tracks regardless, wandering amongst and shmoozing the audience courtesy of a radio microphone, possibly thinking about changing his agent. Check him out at http://www.andy-arnold.com/ and see us on his gallery page !!

Andy in the striped shirt and to his left his probably now ex-manager

Highlight number two - This also involved Andy. A reliable source revealed that by around song 5 or 6 a drunk audience member - let's call him Helmut - was clearly no longer appreciating Andy's set. Believing himself to be invisible, Helmut wandered over towards the stage to put an end to the performance. Andy, possible fearing a thump, edged away but Helmut had spotted a more technical means to undermine Andy. He needed only to pull a plug out of the extension socket at his feet to stop Andy mid-song. Helmut pulled but Andy sang on. About 30 feet to the left however was a small comotion amongst some of the local kids, whose bouncy castle had inexplicably and unexpectedly deflated. Realising he'd actually un-plugged not Andy's sound system but the castle's air compressor, Helmut quickly ran off. The kids you'll be relieved were rescued by a quick-thinking barman who put the plug back into it's rightful socket enabling the bouncing to continue.

That night, by luck rather than arrangement we all met up in Dorfcafe in the village for very good (and garlicky) pizzas and wine, served by another blonde and efficient waitress, running the place on her own. We had an early start for home the next morning and coupled with being flaked from the day's exertions, we decided an early night would be a good idea. After a quick tour of Trevor & Lorraine's apartment we went back to the Niederreiter and fell into bed.

Frolics on Trevor & Lorraine's balcony

We should have been up at 5.30, but for Lynda and me it was 6. We didn't fancy a lie-in, I just made a bollocks of setting the alarm on my mobile phone! Our hosts had very kindly laid breakfast on for us specially despite their usual start time of 8. Tip 3: Remember Austria is an hour ahead if setting an alarm on a device that's still on UK time.

We said a rueful goodbye to Maria Alm, drove back to Salzburg, dropped off the hire car and took-off only ten minutes later than scheduled. We touched down on a wet but sunny Essex runway, none of us really having wanted to leave Austria behind. Bryan very kindly supplied the transport to and from Stansted and all points North, for which we're very grateful.

Another excellent trip to a wonderful place with great company. Thanks to all for making it special - a holiday's only as good as the people you're with, and this one was super.

23rd - 27th July. Madrid Again

Ah yes, Madrid again. Our second flight into Barajas Airport in two months but a very different trip this time. Not for a family visit on this occasion as ironically the Spanish branch of the family (5/6ths of it anyway) were in England, still enjoying their very long summer holiday.

Unfortunately though work demands on Ana meant she had to 'pop' back to the Spanish capital for a few days, and she wondered if Lynda and I fancied making the trip with her. We didn't need asking twice, hence the three of us taking off on the Monday from a rain-soaked, recently flooded Luton Airport and touching down bang on time on a warm and bright Madrid morning.

We told Ana not to hang around at the airport so having first agreed on a sophisticated communication system involving text messages, she scurried off to her Monday morning team meeting at her office in the city centre. Meanwhile we collected the luggage and by a combination of tube and bus made it home.

We spent day one getting a few domestics sorted out, taking advantage of Frank's beer supplies and generally not doing much at all. We'd had a 3am alarm call so we were using our remaining energy stocks wisely. Day one also saw the first of a series of daytime phone calls that I answered, and in my less than perfect Spanish responded to by telling the caller I didn't speak the language so go away.

In the evening we took the train to Principe Pio where we met Ana and whizzed round the desgner shops at this lovely mall. She suggested that for dinner we tried one of the family's favourite treats - a kebab back at home. We'd heard a lot about these so jumped at the chance of making our Spanish kebab debut. This place is basic, but it is very clean, the staff extremely pleasant, the prices very low and the food superb! In fact I was the only one to try the kebab as the girls went for something called a 'pide'; a kind of folded-up pizza not unlike a calzone. I caused eyebrows to be raised by eating my kebab with a knife and fork.

I've been told since by Frank that the correct method, as practised by Carla & Andi, is in fact to pull the kebab over the head like a balaclava and rub it around the face until eventually most of it finds its way into the mouth. I'll know for next time. Ana made the mistake (from my point of view) of telling the girls on the phone that night that I don't know how to eat one and they've ribbed me mercilessly since!!

The next day we all went into Madrid together. Ana shot off to work and we found a 'MadridVision' bus stop, hopped on an open-topped variety and bought a two day ticket. We were going to 'tourist' very hard.

It was great travelling leisurely around the city in (surprisingly) free-flowing traffic and beautiful sunshine. Being upstairs meant we had the benefit of a lovely breeze so what with all that, and not being at work we were feeling pretty good about life.

The bus has two routes; old and new Madrid. We were on the new circuit that takes in Santiago Bernabeu - the Real Madrid ground to non believers, the financial area and the designer shops. It's a really great way to see the city and pick up a tan at the same time. Rumbling stomachs eventually made us hop off for lunch in Plaza Mayor, and a splendid one it was too. Back on the bus for a bit of the 'old' Madrid route and then it was time to meet up with Ana.

She dived into the role of tour guide with relish and walked us all over the city, pausing only for a brilliant seafood dinner at a place called 'Ribeiro Do Mino', which according to the New York Times is '...probably the liveliest seafood eating spot in Madrid..' We had an enormous and delicious feast washed down with wine for not a lot of Euros. We'd ordered the meal 'for two', which not even the three of us could finish. People were still pouring in at midnight looking for tables. Go to this place !!!!!

We walked dinner off with an ice cream around the very lively Chueca area of the city before almost fainting with fatigue, we hailed a cab and went home to bed.

Wednesday was once again spent hopping on and off the tourist bus, shopping and eating. 'Naturbier' is a lovely bar / eatery in Palza Santa Ana. It brews its own beer and serves delicious food. We sat (two days on the trot) at an outside table and watched the world go by. Very recommended.

By Thursday the weather was warming up even more so we decided to spend the day at home, alternating between bouts of sunbathing and a few minor domestic chores, as well as fending off phone calls from that same persistent caller.

That evening Ana came home and we walked into town for dinner. She took us to another family favourite eatery in a nearby park. Sitting in the warm open air, drinking freezing cold beer, eating the most delicious food, just chatting and laughing we were a million miles away from work and its associated crap. I think if anyone had offered to wave a magic wand that night we'd have happily stayed in Madrid for a long, long time.

Friday was our last day - and hot - but we werent going home till late. We went into the city with Ana and visited her office. She's a designer for a media company and runs a team of designers that turn out magazines, annual reports and just about anything you can think of. Ana introduced us to her colleagues and showed us Madrid from the top of her building. It certainly has splendid views of the city.

We said ta-ta and nipped to 'El Corte Ingles', the most famous Department store chain in Spain. They're everywhere, in Madrid alone there must be twenty of them. We were looking for a present for Frank & Ana and we knew if we couldn't get it there it probably doesn't exist! A bit more sightseeing and eating (excellent pay once, eat everything buffet) then met up with Ana, nipped home to pack and then the three of us headed to Barajas.

Our flight was spot on and we landed on an almost balmy evening in Luton, delighted that we'd brought a bit of the sunshine back home with us.

Thanks Ana for looking after us so well and for showing us some lovely sights and introducing us to some wonderful restaurants. You are safe in the knowledge that if you ever get fed up working in the media you would make a fantastic city guide.

Oh yes, the phone calls. That turned out to be Ana's insurance company trying to arrange to fix their broken freezer. Come on, would you have understood that?